Members of the Arid Lands Environment Centre and the Central Australian Frack Free Alliance gathered today in support of the campaign led by the Standing Rock Souix Tribe against the Dakota Access Pipeline in America.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is designed to carry 450,000 gallons of crude oil daily from the Bakken Oil Fields in North Dakota to Illinois, and is being built by Dakota Access, owned by Texas billionaire Kelcy Warren.

In recent months the pipeline has come to global attention because the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe have led a campaign against the pipeline running so close to their reservation, through their sacred sites and as a threat to their drinking water. The Standing Rock campaign has an international social media profile and an on-the-ground blockade, and has become a global focus for the indigenous land rights and climate change movements.

“Alice Springs residents have gathered today in support of the ‘Stand with Standing Rock’ campaign as new major infrastructure for fossil fuel projects is now a global issue. As a global community if we are to limit temperature rise to 2C this requires 80% of all known fossil fuel deposits to remain unburned and in the ground,” said Nicole Pietsch, spokesperson for the Arid Lands Environment Centre (ALEC)

“In this context new fossil fuel infrastructure must be challenged globally. We need immediate planning for a transition away from fossil fuels to renewable energy and we need to see immediate investment into renewables,” said Nicole Pietsch.

“Here in Alice Springs we show our support for the #NoDAPL campaign, for indigenous land rights, for immediate action on climate change and to remind people that we have similar challenges in the Northern Territory.”

“ALEC is staunchly opposed to the proposed Northern Gas Pipeline (NGP) due to its economic justification to ‘stimulate the development of the Northern Territory through increased gas exploration and production’. Pipe has already started arriving in Tennant Creek despite the project not yet receiving environmental approvals. ALEC has significant concerns with the draft Environmental Impact Statement for the project, and has serious concerns the proposed pipeline will open up the Territory for fracking.”

“There simply cannot be any new fossil fuel projects if we have a chance of collectively addressing climate change. Already we have seen vast swathes of mangroves die across the Top End, large tracts of kelp forests die in Tasmania, and our Great Barrier Reef is dying,” said Nicole Pietsch.

“Something is going on here and it’s called ‘climate change’. If we want a safe climate for our kids we need action now – not new pipelines for fossil fuel projects.”

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